This invention relates to a mixing chamber silo to which material is supplied from above, and wherein a mixing chamber is arranged substantially centrally on the floor of the main silo chamber. Material is supplied from the silo chamber to the mixing chamber through a plurality of inlet openings around the bottom of the mixing chamber, and a discharge from the mixing chamber leads through the wall of the silo.
Mixing chamber silos are known (DE PA 15 07 888), in which the mixing effect is based on the preliminary mixing in the main silo chamber in addition to the homogenization of relatively small quantities of loose material in the mixing chamber. This preliminary mixing is primarily effected in that when individual floor areas of the silo floor are aerated for the purpose of removing loose material from these areas, a movement of material takes place in a downward direction into the lateral material inlet orifices or openings of the mixing chamber. This movement is not only connected with a shifting of the material layers located above this area relative to adjacent material layers, but also with a commingling of the loose material within the lowering column of material and in the area of the edges as well of the funnel (funnel effect) which forms at the surface of the material. In the language of a person skilled in this art, this type of movement of material is termed spout formation. The mixing effect of a spout is limited to its horizontal expansion, and this expansion, in turn, is determined from below by the expansion of the effectively aerated floor area of the main silo. Above, the spout formation increases according to the slope of the material resulting from the slippage.
The radial expansion of the spout should, is possible, correspond to the total radial extent of the silo. However, the possible radial extent of this type of spout if limited, since the conveying effect of the pneumatic conveyor leading to the mixing chamber decreases as the distance from the mixing chamber increases.